ANJ: Healing Hearts of the Hidden Leaf
by ZenosParadox
Summary: After a fight against Baki, Yugao Uzuki develops a new target for her wrath: Sazanami, the bounty hunter.


Summary: Yugao Uzuki develops a new target for her wrath: Sazaname, the bounty hunter.

Author note: Sazaname is the bounty hunter with the bird birth mark on his chest that Naruto and co encounter during a filler episode of the anime. This takes place before that episode.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters. The story was written purely for personal enjoyment and posted to share with others of like mind.

**ANJ: HEALING HEARTS OF THE HIDDEN LEAF**

_**Close Encounters  
**_

The bounty hunter climbed the ridge thinking he'd enjoy some peace and quiet as the sun set. Instead he found a rather odd scene unfolding below him at the border gate of Fire and Rain Country. The glint from forehead protectors indicated that he was watching shinobi. From the style of their clothing, he determined the aggressor was from Konoha and the target from Suna.

The masked Leaf nin cast a rope to drag the tall Suna nin away from his two companions and back into Fire Country. The rope bound the man's arms while the Leaf nin held a katana at his throat, although another sword was evident in the sheath on Leaf nin's back.

The bounty hunter's gaze flicked to the two Suna nins, a hooded young man and a blonde haired young woman, watching their--captain? The girl unfolded a large fan, but stopped when the captured man called to them. Her movement hid the youth's twitching fingers from the Leaf nin.

Suddenly the sword on the Leaf nin's back flew out of its sheath. The blade cut through the rope to release the man and in moments the Sand nin wielded that sword in his left hand to face the masked Leaf. The duel that next transpired was short, but clearly revealed the incredible skill of the two combatants. The movements also revealed that the Leaf was a kunoichi.

"A very pissed off kunoichi," muttered Sazanami to himself as he watched her fling off the mask and attack viciously.

But when it was over, it was the woman who was left pinned to the gate.

The Suna nin took the sword she had dropped and suddenly slammed it deeply into the board by her head. The wounded man then retreated across the border where he collapsed into the blonde girl's arms. The youth immediately helped his teammate carry the burden and they vanished in a whirl of sand.

Sazanami's gaze moved back the woman, but the blade thrust by her head caught his attention. Something about the katana seemed to call to him as if a lost spirit was imbued in the very steel. He found himself moving from his perch on the ridge as soon as the Suna nin were out of sight.

"You're a damn fool for getting involved in a ninja dispute," he chided himself as he made his way down the slope. Sazanami shook his head and scoffed, "Probably just the fury of a woman scorned."

- - - - - - - - - -

While the bounty hunter made his way down the slope, Yugao Uzuki considered the irony of being pinned to the border gate with her own weapon. Judging by its position, the blade had penetrated the strap of her armor and slipped under the clavicle. That bone would be fractured if the sword were not removed by an experienced hand.

Her gaze flicked to Sengetsu, Hayate's sword, the one that Baki had buried into the wood beside her. Her failure in killing the man hurt more than the wound. Although she had the strength to summon the messenger bird that would bring her help, she hesitated. If she waited long enough, perhaps the blood loss could kill her given her drained chakra.

She closed her eyes and made a decision to let fate direct her path, although she willed that no travelers would be on the road tonight. The sound of a male voice abruptly disturbed her placid acceptance of death.

"Hey, you awake? I watched your duel with the Suna man from the ridge."

Yugao opened her eyes in disbelief as she saw a man lighting the lamp on the gate. The stranger tilted his broad-rimmed hat back and she saw he had two long lines scarring his left cheek and one long one marring his right.

"That was some lover's spat," he added when he noted she was conscious. She was so beautiful, he was barely aware of what he'd blurted out.

Yugao hissed. "Lover's spat? I wouldn't let that bastard touch me. Baki is the Suna nin who butchered Hayate, the man I loved."

"Revenge, huh?" asked the man as he tugged on the sword at her shoulder.

"No! Wait..."

"Best to get things like this done quickly," explained the scar-faced man as he deftly removed the sword without damaging the clavicle.

"Did I ask for your help?" groused Yugao even as the man eased her down to prop her against the gate.

"You'd rather be a butterfly?" he taunted in response to her less than gracious acceptance of his aide. He'd walk away except that abandoning her went against his nature.

"Butterfly? Have you been smoking wild weed? You look the type."

"Don't smoke," replied the man drily. He hid his growing irritation by pulling a salve and some bandages out of a deep pocket in his coat.

"I'm no butterfly; I'm Yugao Uzuki, Leaf jonin. Who the hell are you to interfere?"

"Just a bounty hunter; call me Sazanami," offered the man as he staunched the blood by applying the salve. "And you looked just like the pretty purple butterflies pinned through the gut, left on display so collector's can show them off."

"I was not pinned through the gut," muttered Yugao as the man pushed her forward to wrap the bandage around her.

"Or the heart. That man you were fighting--Baki, was it? He could have killed you. Looks like your collar bone is intact, although I expect your muscles will take a while to heal," he said as he tightened the bandage.

Yugao closed her eyes as her failure washed over her again. "You should have left me to die."

"Why? I like a woman who could kick my ass," said the man as he removed the armor on her torso. His hand inadvertently brushed against her bosom, but he was too focused on unclasping the straps to notice.

Yugao suddenly opened her eyes and glared suspiciously. "Are you expecting to take sex as payment for your help, Bounty Hunter?"

The man quirked an eyebrow as he set the torso plates aside. "I think you're overestimating the appeal...," he began amiably as he removed a shin guard.

"...a grumpy, bled out...," _Thump_ went the right leg.

"...husk of woman...," _Thump_ went the left leg.

"... lying in the dirt...," _Click_ went the shin guards as he gathered them, "...has on a man."

"Bounty hunters always extract payment," scoffed Yugao. The abrupt movements had been an effective reminder that she was currently disabled and at his mercy.

"I expect to get paid in cold hard cash for my jobs," said Sazanami while he put the armor in a neat pile. He felt no guilt at each wince he had peeled from her, he told himself. She already thought he was nothing but a lowlife.

"You won't be receiving that from me, either."

"Good to know. I'll just be taking that sword that's stabbed into the gate then. Looks like it would fetch a good--"

"Don't you dare steal Sengetsu! That's Hayate's sword!" yelled Yugao as she tried to rise.

"Whoa there! Stay put or you'll fall over dizzy," cautioned Sazanami. He'd just been goading the woman. He looked at Sengetsu gleaming in the lamplight and immediately recognized the quality of the katana. Furthermore, the spiritual presence in the sword was even stronger to him. "Hayate's sword, huh? And you're carrying it around so recklessly?"

"It was for revenge!"

"Well, this Baki you fought is more generous than I thought. What would you have done if he'd taken Sengetsu with him?"

"I--" began Yugao, but then frowned and glanced up at the sword again. "I wanted to bury it in the man who killed Hayate."

"Hmf. I wouldn't waste a prized sword like Sengetsu cutting down a dog," murmured Sazanami. "Wasn't Hayate any good with it?"

"Hayate was a sword master!" defended Yugao.

"Then that sword is an extension of his spirit and should be buried with him!" castigated Sazanami. He regretted his outburst when he realized that he'd assumed there were no children. He quietly added, "Unless he left a child. But I suppose shinobi follow different traditions."

Yugao looked away from him. She would not cry in front of this man, but the regret of not having even Hayate's child to fill the emptiness was a fresh wound to consider. Her voice was rather subdued as she admitted, "Hayate fathered no children. We hold the same traditions."

Sazanami just shook his head and pointed at Sengetsu to admonish, "I'll bet the blade got nicked being rammed into the wood like that."

Yugao finally looked at Sazanami closely. The sword sheathed at his side and the calluses on his hands were signs of frequent use of the katana. His vehement proclamation of a sword's proper disposition indicated the man was more than a brigand who carried a weapon for convenience. Furthermore, he seemed more impressed by Sengetsu than a kunoichi.

She chose her words carefully. "I won't reward you for releasing me from the gate, but if you retrieve Sengetsu for me, you can ask your price and I'll pay it."

Sazanami merely grunted and pulled Sengetsu out with one smooth movement. He held up the katana to inspect it and recognized the sign of the swordsmith who had made it. It would be invaluable to a collector, but he placed it into Yugao's hands.

"My camp is about a half mile to the southeast," she murmured to him. The woman had the strength to clutch the sword to her chest as she finally succumbed to the blood loss and the chakra drain. Consciousness fell away.

- - - - - - - - - - -

It had taken Sazanami little time to find Yugao's camp. First he retrieved her gear to leave her undisturbed for a while longer, but the howl of wolves in the distance made him hurry. He turned on the lantern she had left on the tent pole to guide his path and went back to collect the wounded kunoichi. Again he felt the spirit of the sword like a beacon drawing him to her.

He gathered her unconscious body fairly easily while she still held Sengetsu. The woman's weight was trivial in his arms and he wondered if she'd been eating well since Hayate's death. She finally stirred as he neared her camp.

"Put me down," she demanded.

"So you can fall on that sword you're hugging to you? Forget it. I'm a bounty hunter, not a grave digger. Besides, I don't want Sengetsu to get all bloody." Sazanami's easy reply infuriated her further, although the man did set her on her feet once they were in front of her tent. "Here, take it easy."

Yugao held her posture steady, but when she suddenly moved forward, she wobbled until a strong arm at her back prevented her fall.

"You gonna make it a point not to listen to me?" asked Sazanami in mild exasperation.

"I have to summon a messenger," she retorted. She regained her composure and performed a one-handed seal rather than the more complex summoning jutsu she typically used so that she wouldn't have to let go of Sengetsu.

"How is twitching your fingers going to bring you help?" muttered Sazanami as he watched her gesticulating.

Yugao rolled her eyes. "It's a hand seal. How can you be so ignorant?"

"Look, I don't come from a shinobi village," replied Sazanami through gritted teeth.

"That's obvious," said Yugao petulantly. Then she pointed and declared, "There's the shadow cat."

Sazanami followed her hand to see the form of a cat coalescing from the shadows of the surrounding forest. The eyes glowed yellow and seemed to blink at them as it sat like a sphinx.

"Yugao." The shadowy feline cocked his head and observed. "New man?"

"Ignore him; Sazanami is not important," announced the kunoichi while the statement earned her a cross look from the man. "I've been wounded and disabled. It's nothing critical now, but I need a medic and a replacement."

"I see. You can expect a team by late morning," answered the cat as it faded.

"Well, isn't that something," murmured Sazanami.

Yugao ignored his comment and moved away from him to enter the tent, but pitched face forward.

"Would you stop that?" Sazanami was tempted to knock her out, but instead grabbed the sword from her while he caught her around the waist with his other hand.

"Sengetsu--"

"Is going to kill you if you land on it," admonished Sazanami. "You can't die on me before I get paid. And I already told you I don't want the sword getting dirty."

Yugao grimaced at the man, but let him lead her to her bedroll where she sat and took a deep breath. The man brought the lantern inside and she saw he had set both Sengetsu and her own sword on the cloth that also held her ANBU mask and armor.

She swallowed her irritation at accepting help from the stranger and offered a truce. "My supplies are in the brown pack. You're welcome to share whatever I have. There's a pouch marked with a painkiller."

Sazanami thought the cold tone was an improvement over the belligerence, so he turned to rummage through her supplies. He first handed her a canteen of water which she drank thirstily, then found the painkilling powder and mixed that into the cup in her kit.

Before she drank the draught, she ruined the tentative peace between them. "How do I know you won't just steal Sengetsu while I'm knocked out?"

"You don't," Sazanami readily admitted. "But I'm hungry, so you can at least count on my staying until after I've fixed supper. And I'm tired, so I've no intention of leaving a night's shelter when one is so handy, especially with wolves on the prowl."

Yugao just shook her head and drank the medicine. She tried to lay back but immediately felt his hands helping her. He knelt by her to slip off her sandals, but after he set a blanket atop her, he noticed she was wriggling underneath it.

"You got bed bugs?" he asked.

"I'm trying to get these pants off," she muttered. "Augh!"

Sazanami just sat back on his haunches as if to relax and began whistling as she made another frustrated attempt.

"Would you stop that annoying whistling?"

"Would you stop all that wiggling? You're gonna start bleeding again," replied Sazanami just as petulantly. "It's not like you don't have help if you'd just quit being too stubborn to ask."

Yugao glared but realized Sazanami was immune to her bullying tactics. She turned her face away from him so she wouldn't have to look at his self-satisfied smirk when she said, "Please. Help. Me."

"No. Problem." Sazanami mimicked her terse cadence.

Then he quickly reached under the blanket and yanked off the offending garment. He didn't want her making any accusations of copping a feel, although his fingers did get sufficient contact to confirm her well-toned legs.

"Anything else, princess?" he asked gruffly. She'd think his flushed face was from anger. He hoped.

"You could wander off and become wolf bait, my dear man," suggested Yugao sweetly as she propped up on her right elbow.

"Which is exactly what you would have been if I hadn't come along, darling," reminded Sazanami.

Their face to face confrontation was broken when the howl of wolves filled the night. They turned in synchrony to the sound.

Yugao conceded as she felt the painkiller taking effect. She'd be useless to anyone in a fight right now. "A fire will keep the wolves at bay."

"And cook our supper," added Sazanami as he helped Yugao recline again.

Yugao was asleep before he left the tent with the lamp.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

While he made a quick stew on a fire outside the tent, the distant howl of wolves indicated the pack had left the immediate vicinity. Sazanami relaxed sufficiently to clean and sharpen the swords; it would bother him relentlessly to leave them unattended.

He first picked up Sengetsu and felt even more strongly that the sword carried a bit of its master's spirit. As his hands automatically performed their tasks, he let his imagination create a conversation with the phantom Leaf nin.

"Well, Hayate, your woman's alive for now. What kind of man were you?" murmured Sazanami.

"Were you tall and strong like Baki? Have to be strong to deal with your woman. Probably the hero of the village, but even heroes are mortal men." Sazanami looked at his own reflection in the blade and smiled grimly.

"Could you make her smile, Hayate? I imagine that's a rare thing. But, damn, I bet she has a smile that makes your heart stop. Not that it matters to you anymore since you're, uh, deceased."

Sazanami frowned as he realized he was acting apologetic to a phantom of his mind. He shook his head and resumed his conjectures. "So, Hayate, were you about to marry Yugao before you went and got yourself killed?"

Sazanami laughed softly as he considered the woman being any man's wife. "Yeah, a man could put up with a lot to lay claim to a beauty like that."

He thought about Yugao's devotion to the dead man and asked, "Were you the only man who could love her, Hayate? Now that's just a shame."

A tragedy, really. Sazanami understood tragedy all too well. He also understood having a personal mission in life centered on revenge.

As his thoughts turned gloomy, Sazanami's finger slid on Sengetsu's blade. He thought nothing of the nick, but when he looked up as he brought the wound to his mouth, he thought he saw an image in the smoke rising from the campfire.

Sazanami blinked and the image was gone, but the lingering memory of a Leaf nin of average size with sunken eyes and a fringe of hair on his forehead under his forehead protector lingered.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Yugao was startled out of her sleep by a touch on her shoulder. "No!"

"Calm down, Yugao. I wanted you to drink some broth."

The kunoichi blinked as she registered the voice. "Sazanami?"

"Good, you remembered my name. Here, it'll restore the blood," said the man as he helped her sit up.

Yugao took the cup and sipped at the broth while the bounty hunter dined from the small stew pot. They ate in silence and she studied him under the veil of her eyelashes.

The scars and the sword corroborated his profession as a bounty hunter and indicated he was a dangerous man. Clearly he could have killed her and taken Hayate's sword.

But other than the less than delicate way he'd removed her armor in response to her churlish behavior, Sazanami had tended to her wounds and to her comfort, actions that contradicted his appearance.

"You don't fit," murmured Yugao when she finally finished the broth.

"Huh?" Sazanami looked around and said, "The tent's got enough room for both of us."

"Bounty hunting. You don't fit," repeated Yugao.

Sazanami frowned at her quick assessment of him, but merely countered, "That's the drug talking. I bet you haven't been thinking straight since Hayate died."

"I'm entitled to grieve."

"Not arguing against that, but revenge will warp your focus and lead you down a solitary path."

Yugao scoffed, "How would you know?"

"Don't ask questions with obvious answers," replied Sazanami with a strong inflection of annoyance. Damn, she really knew how to get on his nerves. "Hayate must have been a saint to put up with you--or had a death wish."

Yugao gasped, then sputtered, "How dare you! Hayate might have been diseased and slowly dying, but he had no death wish!"

Sazanami rubbed his temple with one hand. Somehow he wasn't surprised at Hayate's description. "Look, how about if we both just not mention the man again, okay? I'm not the one who killed him or put a sword through your shoulder, although by your attitude, you'd think I'm the who did."

"Forgive me for not being accustomed to playing damsel in distress!"

"No, what you are is a damn--shrew!"

Yugao's mouth gaped open and she blinked. "Shrew?"

Her lips twitched, then she actually smiled in amusement for the first time in months. She had been called a bitch plenty of times, but never a shrew. "You definitely don't fit the mold, Bounty Hunter."

Sazanami thought he'd just witnessed a miracle with her smile. "Well, you didn't like being called a butterfly."

"True," she readily admitted before laughing softly at his unpredictable comparisons. "Hm, I think that painkiller is affecting me more than I thought."

She gave the empty cup to him and tried to rise, but he was immediately at her side to push down on her unwounded shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Nature call," replied Yugao simply.

"Oh." Sazanami frowned and said, "Wait. You'll have trouble dropping your, uh--"

"You're right," said Yugao with a matching frown as she considered the waistband of her panties.

They looked at each other for a moment before Sazanami shrugged and moved his hands to the blanket.

"Wait. I have a yukata in the black bag." Yugao took a deep breath as she looked at the pullover she wore before adding, "You'll have to cut this shirt off."

Sazanami quickly turned from her to find the garment before she could see him blushing. He was simply not accustomed to feminine company. By the time he found the yukata, he felt he was under control again.

He pulled out a knife and looked at Yugao, but she just nodded. Sazanami tugged at the seam on the left side of her shirt and efficiently ripped it down the side. Yugao used her right arm to catch the material to her breasts as he pulled the cloth off her right arm and down.

Sazanami helped her shrug into the yukata, averting his gaze like a gentleman at a critical point. Once he tied the garment, his hands again went to her waist. His thumbs slipped under the waistband and pulled down to leave her free to attend to her needs. He helped her rise and led her as far as she allowed.

As they re-entered the tent, she said in an even tone, "I can activate the traps I have around the camp with a jutsu so that you can sleep undisturbed."

"Fine with me," replied Sazanami. He helped her recline on her bedroll, then took a sitting position with his sword held in the crook of his arm.

Yugao performed the jutsu, but used a bit more chakra of what little she had left than advised. She glanced quickly at the bounty hunter, but he seemed oblivious to her further weakened state. Sazanami then turned off the lamp and left them in darkness.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A couple hours passed with the howl of wolves becoming whimpers. Sazanami drifted awake from his dream to find that the sound actually originated from Yugao. At the next whimper he moved closer to inspect her to find she felt clammy and cold.

Sazanami considered his options, then he set his sword conveniently by the bedroll. He doffed his coat and moved to lie beside the woman before wrapping them in it. She whimpered again.

"Shh, you're not alone," he murmured to her as he spooned her body around the blanket. "Tonight you won't be alone."

He set his arm went around her waist and brought her tightly against him. He was gratified to feel her shivering slowly diminishing and her own hand cupping his.

There was nothing sexually arousing about smelling the blood from her wound or the dirt on the tent floor or having the sweat soaked hair tickling his nose or feeling the rough blanket separating the contact of their bodies. The intimacy of the moment arose from the solace two lonely souls found in slumber.

For Sazanami, there was something comforting in the touch a live body and not a corpse, in offering aide to someone instead of death, in remembering the contours of a woman's body and pretending for a moment that a normal life was possible.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Yugao's eyes fluttered open as she noted daylight seeping through the filter of the tent. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept so well, although she attributed that to the pain killer. She took a deep breath as she remembered her fight with Baki and unwanted rescue by Sazanami.

Damn the man's interference! But then she looked at Hayate's sword neatly stored in its sheath and realized how close she had come to losing it. She decided to try to be more charitable to her rescuer. She'd pay Sazanami handsomely once they got to Konohagakure and send him immediately on his way.

"Good, you're awake," said the very man as he entered. "How's the shoulder?"

"Feeling numb," admitted Yugao.

"Here, I, uh, found some wild strawberries," he explained almost bashfully as he helped her sit up and tucked his coat around her. He left another cup of broth and a handful of strawberries on her lap before leaving quickly.

Yugao focused her efforts on eating the breakfast, but hurried when a puzzling sound reached her ears. Splashing water? She ran a hand through her hair to find it sticky and twitched her nose.

Yugao got to her knees rather gingerly, then slowly rose to her feet with Sazanami's coat around her. She peered out the tent and turned her head to follow the sound of the splashing.

Sazanami had his back to her, but was washing what grime he could off his body from a bucket of water he had heated over the fire. His lean back revealed wiry muscles and his biceps were even more developed. He then used the sharp edge of his knife to scrape the whiskers off his chin.

"The hot water looks good," she called.

"Damn it!" Sazanami muttered as he nicked himself when she startled him.

Yugao shuffled forward, but she barely had time to register the oddly shaped birthmark on his chest before Sazanami slipped into his shirt. Was the man blushing? She said, "You're bleeding."

She reached up to lightly sweep the blood off with her finger, tracing the line of his jaw in the process.

The bounty hunter touched her wrist. "No need to make a fuss."

Yugao was surprised by her reluctance to let her hand drop, but said, "I wasn't expecting that you'd clean up."

"Right, a man of my profession would make it a habit to shun water," countered Sazanami dryly.

"As a matter of fact, that's been my observation," said Yugao stiffly.

Sazanami recovered his composure and said, "I've left plenty for you. Thought you might want to clean up before you take the next round of painkiller."

Yugao nodded and let his coat slip into her hands. "I'll be right back."

As he took his coat from her, he said, "Remember to --"

"I know, I know. Walk slowly," called Yugao.

She attended to the call of nature and returned just as Sazanami had made up his mind to find her. She admitted, "That took more out of me than I thought."

"Sit," commanded the man as he pointed to a fallen log.

Yugao glared at his orders, but remembered her vow to cooperate. He set the bucket on the log, but when she reached to take the cloth from him, he said, "You can either hold still or I can dump the bucket of water on you."

Yugao frowned, but realized the sponge bath would go faster with his help. Now she understood how Hayate must have felt when she had to help him with daily ablutions. "I suppose the bandages should be changed."

"That's part of the plan," he admitted, "but I was expecting you to go back to sleep after you ate so I didn't get the bandages. I'll be right back."

While Sazanami was gone, Yugao slid out of the yukata and brought it around to cover her front. This gave the bounty hunter an unobstructed view of her back which made him almost stumble when he exited the tent. He stood there for a moment tracing the curves with his gaze before shaking his head and forcing himself to focus on her wound.

Yugao was afraid she was blushing as she sat on the log, but Sazanami appeared to be all business when he returned and draped the fresh dressings on her lap. He efficiently cut off the old bandages and threw them in the fire.

Yugao sat stiffly while he inspected her wound, but couldn't prevent a shiver when he touched her shoulder.

"Cold?" he asked, his voice a low murmur by her ear. She could only nod, so he said, "The water's pretty warm; I'll be quick."

He dipped a washcloth into the bucket, then used gentle but firm strokes on her back, her shoulders, her neck.

"What's the tattoo on your arm?" Sazanami asked as he tried not to focus on the expanse of smooth skin under the washcloth.

"ANBU." Yugao realized she had to explain. "I'm trained for covert operations. We wear the mask, the armor, the katana; it's all part of the uniform."

"Covert operations means spying and assassination?" asked Sazanami as he let the washcloth glide through her hair.

"Yes." Yugao let herself relax under his hands. It was odd to be pampered.

"Should you be telling me this?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter; I'm leaving it behind," she said. "And no, it's not to go on a trail of revenge. It's clear I'd be a liability to any mission until I get my head together."

"You're brutally honest, aren't you?" observed Sazanami as he put more salve on her wound and began wrapping her shoulder again.

"It's one of my few charms," she admitted. Once the bandages were tied, Sazanami again averted his gaze while he helped her adjust the yukata.

"I wouldn't say that," he murmured to himself when his eyes dropped for a quick peek. He admonished himself for acting like some teenage boy and said aloud, "Sometimes life forces a change of paths on you."

Yugao nodded and wondered for a moment what Sazanami's story was. She chided herself for her interest and said, "When we get to Konohagakure, I'll pay you a substantial reward."

"Well, that might be a problem," said Sazanami as he donned his coat and hat and buckled the sheath of his katana. He collected his pack and explained, "I'm not going to Konohagakure."

Yugao frowned. "But, how do you expect me to pay you? Are you planning on taking the sword?"

"I won't take Hayate's sword," he assured her as he walked away, but he suddenly pivoted and said, "But I will take a kiss instead."

"Wha--?"

The word was cut off as his lips sealed hers in an unexpected action. One hand was under her chin, but other than that, the only contact was between his firm mouth on her soft lips. For a moment she was lost in the taste of strawberries as she realized how long it had been since she had been kissed so thoroughly. Hayate had shied away from kissing her like this for years because of his coughing.

Yugao soon came to her senses, but before she could push him away, Sazanami had pulled away to say with a smirk, "Payment in full."

As the bounty hunter made a hasty exit, Yugao was stunned for a few moments. She lightly fingered her lips as she gathered her thoughts--and her fury.

"You dirty, lying, no-good, double-dealing, testosterone driven pervert!" she yelled at his back, but all she saw was a wave of his hand to acknowledge he'd even heard her.

As she watched his retreating back, Yugao realized one thing. The new target for her anger was not Baki of Suna, but a bounty hunter called Sazanami.

_End Chapter 1_

_(to be continued--slowly)_

Author Note: This is a side story to my Wind country chronicles about Baki and the Sabaku siblings. This ties in with the last chapter of Howling Winds. I will be using the next meeting of Sazanami and Yugao in the last chapter of Jostling Winds.

Thanks for reading. No reviews are necessary; it will just take some time to finish this story.


End file.
